Tension device and winding system



June 1951 H. J. M DERMOTT 2,556,285 TENSION DEVICE AND WINDING- SYSTEM I Filed July 30, 1947 Fgfz . INVENTOR. HE/W? Y J. .MCDERMOTT Patentecl June 12, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TENSION DEVICE AND WINDING SYSTEM Henry J. McDermott, Collingdale, Pa., assignor to American Viscose Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application July 30, 1947, Serial No. 764,718

7 Claims.

continuously moving yarn supply and collect it a on a winding and/or twisting device for subsequent treatment or shipment. For example, the yarn may travel as the result of being conveyed on a belt which is continuously driven and carries the yarn to the vicinity of the collecting device or the guide means in advance thereof. Thus, a yarn may be deposited in a zigzag configuration transversely of a continuously moving belt. Such deposition upon the belt may have been resorted to for the purpose of treating with liquids or gases and even for drying a continuously produced yarn of artificial filaments, such as those formed of regenerated cellulose from viscose or cuprammonium viscose, of cellulose esters, such as cellulose acetate, or resin fibers such as those of polymers or copolymers" of vinyl chloride, and/or with vinyl acetate, of nylons, of protein fibers, and the like. Since such continuously spun materials must be conveyed continuously by the belt, it is necessary to correlate the speed of withdrawal by a collecting device with the travel of the yarn carried by the belt. In these situations, it has in the past been difficult to control the speed of winding so that it will not lag behind or get ahead of the yarn supply means.

In accordance with the present invention, an extremely simple system has been found to correlate these speeds and in general, the system comprises the interposition of a novel tension device between the collecting device and the traveling yarn supply. The tension device comprises a plurality of elements disposed adjacent the path Of the yarn with at least some of the elements inclined at an acute angle to the others so that the yarn follows a sinuous path as it passes around and in contact with the surfaces of the elements and the total angle of rubbing contact made by the yarn upon the elements varies in dependence upon the position or approach of the yarn to the device. The tension device is arranged relative to the supply so that the various sinuous paths taken by the yarn therethrough extend in a direction generally transverse to that of the movement of the strand supply and such paths are offset from one anotherin the direction of movement of the strand supply. Hence, the position of approach and the particular sinuous path taken by the yarn through the device varies with the tendency of the yarn supply to lag behind or get ahead of the collecting device. In this manner, a lesser tension is exerted upon the yarn whenever the supply thereof tends to get ahead of the collecting device in taking it up and conversely, the. device increases the tension whenever the supply of the yarn tends to lag behind the collecting device.

In the drawing, which is illustrative of the invention:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a winding system utilizing the present invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the winding system of Figure 1,

Figure 2a, is a section taken on line 11-11 of Figure l,

Figure 3 is a, section similar to that of Figure 2 illustrating a modification, and

Figure 4 is a sketch similar to that of Figure 2a illustrating still another modification.

As shown in the drawing, the yarn or other strand S which is continuously deposited in zigzag configuration upon the conveying belt 3 is carried thereby in the direction of the arrow, the belt being driven such as by means of a roll 4." The strand is picked up from the belt and passes through the tension device 5 toa guide means 6, which may take the form of a pulley or stationary rod, over another guide 1, and then to the collecting device 8 which may be preceded by :a balloon control guide 9. The collecting device is illustratively shown as a twister of the ring and traveler type but other twisters and/or winders may be employed. The collecting device may produce a wound package of any conventional form such as those having a cylindrical, conical or spherical shape, with or without special tapered ends thereon.

The tension device 5 as specifically shown comprises a plurality of rods l0 supported in and projecting fanwise from a common member II. The rods [0 comprise short terminal portions secured to the support and extending generally parallel to each other.

clined relative to each other at an acute angle in fanwise fashion. The elements [0 may be disposed in a common plane or some of them may be laterally offset from a common plane. Figures 1 and 2 show them in a common plane whereas Figures 3 and 4 illustrate deviations from such arrangement. In Figure 3, alternate elements are disposed in ofiset parallel planes, whereas in Figure 4 alternate elements are disposed in planes which diverge at a small acute The rods l0 also comprise strand-engaging portions which are in- 3 angle. Figures 2a, 3 and 4 illustrate the path of the strand S about the elements for the various embodiments. In all of the embodiments, the elements are disposed in fan-like configuration as shown clearly in Figure 1.

As shown, the tension device is arranged relative to the supply so that the various sinuous paths taken by the yarn therethrough extend in a direction generally transverse to that of the movement of the strand supply and such paths are offset from one another in the direction of movement of the strand supply. Preferably, the

median plane of the tension device or the plane bisecting the acute angle between the elements to in the embodiment of Fig. 4 is approximately in alignment with the direction of travel of the yarn supply.

In operation, the strand may fluctuate between extreme positions such as those illustratively shown by the dotted lines A and B. In normal operation, the strand would occupy the position adjacent that shown by the solid line C. In the position C, the strand passing upwardly from the belt 3, as viewed in Figure 1, passes alternately around the outside of elements ID as viewed in Figures 2a, 3 and 4. It will be observed that as the yarn tends to occupy a position closer to the dotted line A, it will make a greater angle of contact about the elements I which will automatically increase tension and the increase in tension, of course, is proportionate to the displacement toward the dotted line A. Such increase in tension decreases the speed of winding by the twister 8 and thereby allows the belt 3 to catch up. On the other hand, if the belt tends to overtake the winding machine, the strand takes a position through the tension device which more nearly approaches the dotted line B and it will be observed that the total angle of contact that the yarn makes about the elements of the tension device is reduced in proportion to the displacement from line C toward line B. This automatically reduces the tension and allows the winding device to catch up with the supply.

While the elements H] of Figures 1 and 2 are shown of straight form, it is not necessary that they be straight throughout. They may be curved along part or all of their length.

It is to be understood that the supply means for the traveling strand may take any suitable form whatsoever including the belt shown in Figure 1 as a mere illustrative embodiment. The yarn supply may take other forms than the zigzag form shown in Figure 2. For example, it may be in the form of overlapped coils disposed on a wire screen or belt which is continuously moving as in Figures 1 and 2. Instead of the ring twister shown, other forms of collecting devices or systems may be used, such as cap twisters, fiyer twisters, or tension-controlled winding systems, a preferred form of which is that shown in the application for Letters Patent of Ingham S. Roberts, Serial No. 568,866, filed December 19, 1944, now Patent No. 2,509,250.

In the specification and claims, the term strand is intended as a generic expression to include all sorts of flexible strips of indefinite length, such as yarns, filaments, threads, cords, wires, or the like, regardless oif whether the strand is of a textile material or of non-adhesive material such as metal or plastic wires.

It is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, means for collecting a strand, means for guiding a strand thereto, continuously moving strand supply means, and a tension device between the strand supply and guide means comprising a common support and a plurality of spaced elements comprising strandengaging portions inclined relatively to each other at an acute angle in fanwise fashion and substantially parallel terminal portions secured to the support, the several elements being arranged at difierent levels above the supply means, and extending in the same general direction as viewed from above as the direction of movement of the strand supply.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1 in which the elements are disposed in a common plane in alignment with the direction of movement of the strand supply.

3. A combination as defined in claim 1 in which the strand-engaging portions of the elements are straight.

4. In combination, means for collecting a strand, means for guiding a strand thereto, continuously moving strand supply means, and a tension device between the strand supply and guide means comprising a common support and two sets of elements, the elements of one set alternating with those of the other and being disposed in a plane displaced from that of the other set, said elements comprising short sub stantially parallel terminal portions secured to the support and strand-engaging portions in clined relatively to the correspondin portions of adjacent elements at an acute angle in fanwise fashion, the several elements being arranged at different levels above the supply means, and ex tending in the same general direction as viewed from above as the direction of movement of the strand supply.

5. A combination as defined in claim 4 in which the two sets of elements are disposed in ofiset substantially parallel planes.

6. A combination as defined in claim 4 in which the two sets of elements are disposed in planes which are inclined to each other at a small acute angle.

7. A combination as defined in claim 4 in which the strand-engaging portions are substantially straight.

HENRY J. MGDERMO'I'I.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 60 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

